Richard Simmons loses big: ordered to pay $130,000
Richard Simmons was ordered to pay nearly $130,000 to the National Enquirer and Radar Online after the exercise guru sued the two media outlets for defamation.
Richard Simmons was ordered to pay nearly $130,000 to the National Enquirer and Radar Online after the exercise guru sued the two media outlets for running a series of articles alleging he was transitioning to become a woman.
Simmons, 69, was ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Keosian Friday to pay the media outlets’ attorneys’ fees and American Media, their publisher, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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The defendants sought $220,000 in a motion filed in January that Simmons’ lawyers dubbed a “billing fiesta.”
Simmons sued the media outlets in May for a series of articles that alleged the fitness guru was transitioning to become a woman. He claimed that, while he holds no personal ill-feelings toward the transgender community, the articles were false and defamatory to his character. Simmons’ lawyers argued that as a public figure, he has a legal right to “not be portrayed as someone he is not.”
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However, Keosian ruled that alleging someone is transgender is not necessarily defamatory. Keosian dismissed Simmons case on Sept. 1, 2017.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Simmons is “appealing the dismissal motion.”
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